Singapore Court Postpones Execution After Convict Tested Positive for COVID-19, Reports Say

BANGKOK (Sputnik) - An appeals court in Singapore decided to postpone the execution of a convict, sentenced to death by hanging for importing 43 grams of heroin into the country, after he had tested positive for COVID-19, Singaporean media reported on Tuesday.

Under Singaporean law, trafficking of more than 15 grams of heroin is punishable by death.

A panel of three judges convened for a special hearing earlier in the day, during which they ruled to stay the execution of 25-year-old Malaysian citizen Nagaenthran Dharmalingam and postpone the hearing on the cancellation of the sentence until he recovers, the Straits Times daily said.

The date of the next hearing will be announced later. Dharmalingam was scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday, but the execution was postponed for an unspecified period of time, according to the daily.

Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009, when he was 21 years old, with 42.72 grams of heroin strapped to his thigh. He was sentenced to death in 2010 and has since been trying to overturn the ruling by claiming he was mentally disabled.

The case has recently attracted the attention of human rights activists and media after a letter sent by the Singaporean penitentiary system to the convict's mother notifying her of his impending execution was leaked online. Over 60,000 people have signed the petition demanding a pardon.